MY APPROACH TO SEO

Implementing a well-devised SEO strategy can do wonders for most businesses: higher search engine rankings, more and better-targeted traffic, better leads and more sales.

Since SEO touches upon so many aspects of most businesses, I take a holistic approach to SEO and seek to gain an understanding of your overall business: your goals & challenges, target audience, business model, product & service strategy, and more.

All of this matters when it comes to search engine optimization and online marketing.

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SEO Process Overview

As an SEO consultant and trainer, I thoroughly research and analyze your website for:

usability issues that prevent your site from ‘converting’ as well as it could – meaning I’ll help to get more of your visitors to take the actions you desire once they arrive at your site e.g. buying your product/service, submitting a form, phoning you, etc.

I then provide a comprehensive, custom-tailored strategy that details exactly what changes you need to make to your website and online marketing to get better search engine rankings, more targeted traffic, and more conversions.

You can then either implement my recommendations by yourself with my guidance, or I can take care of the implementation for you.

After the core implementation is complete, I can provide on-site SEO training to key members of your web team, enabling them to create search-optimized content on their own, quickly and effectively.

This goes a long way toward protecting and enhancing the value you receive from your SEO investment over the long term.

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Build a Solid Foundation

I’ll build a solid SEO foundation for your website based on fundamental strategies and best practices.

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Don't Forget The Audience

I’ll optimize your website for both search engines and your audience. This is what your audience wants, and it’s what Google wants and rewards.

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'White Hat' SEO Only - No Nonsense

I use current, advanced ‘white hat’ SEO methodologies only (i.e. those that comply with Google’s guidelines). No outdated tactics or ‘black hat’ nonsense that can get your site in trouble.

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Well-Documented, Comprehensive Analyses

All of my SEO analyses are extremely thorough, and supported by clean, understandable, well-documented deliverables.

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Custom-Tailored Solutions

The SEO solutions I provide are all completely customized to meet your business’s specific goals, needs and budget.

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Unmatched Personal Service

I provide a level of personal service that I honestly think you’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere else.

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Unwavering Honesty and Integrity

I’ll be 100% honest with you at all times and in every way.

If I don’t think I can help you, I’ll tell you. If I don’t feel confident about the ROI that you can achieve from SEO, I’ll tell you.

It doesn’t matter whether you have a budget of $5,000 or $50,000. I’ll tell you what I truly believe just the same.

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Exceptional Value and High ROI

If we work together, I’m going to give you 100% – nothing less. I strive to give each and every client outstanding value that delivers meaningful and measurable ROI.

But it’s not all me, it’s a joint effort. There’s no doubt that great working relationships have been a major factor in my clients’ SEO successes to date.

That said, if I don’t feel highly confident that we can achieve worthwhile results together, then I won’t take on your project.

Obsessive Commitment to Client Satisfaction

MY SERVICES

Below is a summary of the SEO services that I most commonly provide to my clients. What’s not so apparent from the descriptions below is how these services relate to one another.

The specific services that I recommend for each prospective client are all tied together into a cohesive SEO proposal that is tailored to each business’s goals, needs and budget.

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Discovery

What are your business’s goals & challenges? Who is your target audience and what are their interests? What is your business model / revenue model? What is your product & service strategy?

Discovery is the first step in the overall SEO process, and is all about getting to know your business.

In particular, it is a consultation with you to better understand and/or define your business strategy, which will form the foundation of your SEO strategy.

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Keyword Research & Analysis

Keyword research & analysis is a fundamental part of online marketing. Your content may be compelling, but are you using the words your target audience is actually interested in and actively searching for?

Furthermore, you need to consider your competition. Which keywords can you realistically rank well for? Which ones don’t you have a chance at?

I provide an in-depth and actionable analysis that shows you exactly which terms to focus on (and which ones to avoid) for highly targeted, maximum potential traffic from the search engines.

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Analytics

Analytics tools such as Google Analytics provide a wealth of data about the traffic that your website receives. But the data itself provides only limited value.

The real value of analytics is derived from knowing how to interpret this data to gain meaningful insights into your visitors’ behavior that you can take action on.

The analytics reports and analysis I provide do exactly this.

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Search Engine Rankings

Search engine rankings are only part of the picture in SEO. But let’s face it: rankings matter. If you want to be found, you need to be visible.

The ranking reports I provide reveal much more than just the position in Google where your website is found for its target keywords.

Your rankings are integrated into our keyword research & analysis in a way that offers far more insight than just standalone ranking reports.

Don’t just know your rankings. Know how to improve them.

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SEO Site Audit

Having a website that meets both the technical needs of search engines and the usability needs of your audience is critical to successful SEO.

My SEO site audit provides a thorough, custom-tailored assessment of your website. Literally dozens of SEO factors are assessed and documented in an easy to follow, prioritized action plan.

The audit includes everything that matters for building a rock-solid SEO strategy that your audience will appreciate and the search engines will love!

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On-Page Optimization

Appropriate use of keywords in your content and in your title tags / meta tags is a major factor in both the visitor experience and search engine rankings.

While inadequate use of keywords can significantly limit the effectiveness of your SEO strategy, over-use of keywords will surely kill it. Thus, the right balance must be struck.

Done right, on-page optimization results in content that is more relevant to both search engines and to your target audience, multiplying your opportunities for increased visibility and higher quality traffic.

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Link-Building Strategy

Inbound links from other websites carry more weight than any other factors when it comes to SEO. But it isn’t so much the quantity of links that matters (far from it), it’s the quality of these links.

One well-placed, contextually relevant link from a trusted, high authority site can give you a far greater SEO boost than 1,000 links of mediocre quality (and poor quality links can actually hurt your SEO).

However, obtaining quality links is a grind for most marketing folks. But it doesn’t have to be. I’ll show you how to attract high quality links in a way that is a natural extension of your marketing efforts.

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Usability & Conversion

Gaining visibility in the search engines – and getting searchers to click through to your website once it’s found in the search engine results pages – are the critical first two measures of any successful SEO initiative.

But it’s not enough. Once visitors arrive at your site from the search engines, are they taking the actions you desire – like opting in to your newsletter, requesting a product demo, or contacting you?

If your site isn’t converting visitors into qualified leads, then all the traffic in the world is meaningless.

Content Marketing Strategy

Sounds great, but how do you get your content exposed to the right audience? How do you get your audience to like and trust you enough so that when they’re ready to buy, you (and not your competitors) are top of mind?

I can guide you on developing a content marketing strategy that will work for your business.

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Website Redesign Consulting

Are you going through a website redesign? The earlier you get your SEO guy (or gal) involved, the better.

Why? Your new site may look beautiful on the outside, but the reality is that most web designers and developers unwittingly leave their site’s SEO in worse shape than it was previously, not better.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. With proper early-stage planning, analysis and guidance, you can not only maintain your site’s SEO, but actually take it to new heights.

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Competitor Analysis

Are your competitors outranking you in the search engines, generating more leads and making more sales?

My competitive analysis will reveal the strategies of your top online competitors. You can then leverage this intelligence within your own strategy to better compete.

Learn what they’re doing differently, what’s working, and what’s not. Discover and fill any gaps in your own strategies and take advantage of the gaps in their strategies to gain market share.

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SEO Implementation Services

Your killer SEO strategy has been documented in an easy to follow action plan. Now it’s time to implement!

Not comfortable editing server configuration files or don’t have time to make the recommended content edits? No problem – I’ll take care of it for you.

Do you have the resources and technical know-how to implement largely on your own and just need a little guidance along the way? I can do that too.

Whatever your implementation needs, we’ll work together to get it done.

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On-Site SEO Training

Knowing how to apply basic day-to-day SEO best practices makes your in-house web team much more valuable to your organization.

With my on-site SEO training, your company can eliminate (or at least minimize) its dependency on outside consultants for ‘routine’ SEO tasks, enabling it to create search-optimized content in a shorter time frame and with far greater effect.

Ongoing SEO Services

My ongoing SEO services are designed to protect and continually improve your site’s usability and search engine visibility after the core SEO implementation.

My aim is to increase the volume and quality of traffic you receive through continued optimization of new and existing content, effective use of emerging SEO strategies, and appropriate adjustments based on any significant changes to Google’s algorithm.

Flexible arrangements are available based on your needs and budget, including monthly retainer, periodic check-ins (e.g. every 3-6 months), and specific SEO tasks.

PRICING

What is the price of your SEO services?

All pricing is customized based on each client’s particular goals, needs and budget. A typical project consists of a number of specified deliverables (see My Services above) to be provided within a specified timeframe (usually a few weeks or a few months), for a specified one-time fixed fee.

What size budgets do you typically work with?

I generally work with budgets in the $20,000-$40,000 range, with most projects running around $25,000-$30,000. These are one-time fees, not annual fees.

Are there any monthly fees or other ‘ongoing’ fees?

Due to the way in which I approach SEO (see My Approach To SEO above), regular monthly SEO services are not necessary in most (but not all) cases after completion of the core fixed-fee project, particularly if the client’s project includes some degree of SEO training (which most do). In such cases, additional monthly fees are therefore not applicable.

What usually provides greater value are less frequent, quick SEO ‘checkups’, such as every 3-6 months, which are sufficient for most clients and offer far better ROI than a monthly retainer-based arrangement.

Do you offer hourly pricing?

Yes I do. For both new and existing clients who just need some guidance or advice – be it answering some burning questions or helping to devise an effective online marketing strategy – hourly consulting may be a good option.

Often a relatively small investment can help set you on the right path, saving you from making mistakes that can cost you significant time, money, and frustration.

My rate is $150/hour (CDN). If you’re a non-profit with charitable status, you may be eligible for up to a 20% discount, or as low as $120/hour.

Do you offer longer term retainer-based pricing?

Based on my availability and other factors, I may consider a limited number of 6-12 month retainer-based arrangements. Pricing would be customized based on each client’s particular needs and budget. Please contact me if you wish to discuss.

Do you work with companies that are located outside of Toronto?

Yes I do. While most of my clients are located in the Toronto area, many are in other parts of Canada and the US as well.

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HAPPY CLIENTS

Michael needs to be part of your digital marketing team.

While we all expect vendors to have deep functional knowledge, after working with Michael it’s obvious that Search is in his blood. The guy is a powerhouse of skill and knowledge.

But more importantly, he is able to take that knowledge and help organizations take tangible steps to meet business goals. He is easy to understand, approachable, and his “teach a person to fish” approach was exactly the kind of skill development we were looking for.

Michael is a class act all around and you won’t be disappointed.

Gordon Goldschleger

VP Marketing and Communications, Congregation Darchei Noam

I have had the chance to work with a few SEO specialists over the past few years. Honestly, I had almost completely given up on SEO experts. That was until I met Michael.

Anyone can paint you a picture of how SEO works in broad strokes. Michael goes far beyond that. He links the essential, technical, and sometimes tedious aspects of the job to the big picture. He helps you understand how effective SEO will be in the context of your specific industry.

He is astoundingly thorough – every email, every project is backed up with hours of research and reading. He explains to you exactly what he is doing, his rationale behind it, and gives you an honest appraisal of its effectiveness. I never felt left in the dark while he was working with us.

Beyond his SEO capabilities (which are unmatched in my opinion), Michael is just a really great guy. Easy to work with, open, passionate and quick to laugh. He brought great energy and enthusiasm to his work and was kind and courteous at every step.

At this point, I can’t imagine working with anyone else in SEO. Even now, months after our project wrapped up, Michael is still willing and happy to help us. His emails and his advice is still incredibly thorough. Great man, great mind, and a truly wonderful working experience.

Eyal Rosenblum

Executive Director, Operation Groundswell

We engaged Michael for a major SEO project and couldn’t be happier. This is a guy who lives and breathes SEO. But not only is his knowledge at the top of the heap, his ability to articulate problems and opportunities in an understandable way – and provide clear solutions that organizations can act on – put him in a class that few (if any) can match.

Most importantly, the ROI we’ve received from our investment in Michael has been truly staggering – and we haven’t even implemented all of his recommendations yet.

If all this isn’t enough, he’s proven to be consistently reliable, responsive, utterly professional, and easy to work with. Plus, he’s just a really personable, down-to-earth guy.

Michael has gone above and beyond the call of duty, far exceeding our expectations in every possible way. If you need SEO, you’ll want to hire this guy. I can’t recommend him highly enough.

Michael Gladstone

CIO & Executive VP, International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA)

It has been a pleasure working with Michael Gordon as our company has undergone a period of rapid expansion. We have gone from having virtually no marketing to undertaking a major project and growth phase and Michael’s assistance with our web site and SEO has been a true blessing.

He quickly launched himself into a field of medicine with which he was not familiar and insisted on understanding as much as he could about our area of expertise before even starting the original project. His background work and patience with a novice in this area clearly led to a program with which our group has been thrilled.

Fortunately for us, his patience is limitless and he will describe as much or as little of the process as we wish to know, while at all times remaining sensitive to our goals and needs.

We certainly would recommend Michael for SEO work without hesitation. We are thankful that he has been able to assist us during this instrumental time in our company’s development.

Dr. Edward J. Wolf

Founding Partner, New Jersey Perinatal Associates (NJPA)

Show More Testimonials

What an absolute pleasure and privilege it is to work with Michael! His in-depth knowledge of SEO is incomparable and has been crucial in our organization’s growth this year.

He thoroughly researched our needs, competition, and opportunities and then showed our Marketing team, step-by-step, what we needed to do to maximize and optimize our growth.

Michael is incredibly adept and versatile. Our project was one that had a very (very!!) tight time frame but despite that, Michael rolled with it. Always timely with his responses and flexible to our schedule. Simply put, he went over and beyond what I expected and what our organization needed.

SEO can be incredibly technical and tedious at times, but Michael always broke things down in a digestible way. He tailored his SEO training for myself and my colleagues in a way that suited our knowledge, learning styles, and pace.

Even months after this project, Michael continues to be generous with his time and is always happy to help us. I honestly could not ask for more. Michael’s work is unrivalled and I hope to work with him again in the near future!

Justine Abigail Yu

Director of Communications and Marketing, Operation Groundswell

Michael is one of the most thorough, patient, intelligent, and ethical professionals I know. And to have that from an SEO expert is very difficult to find.

He worked with us to ensure the changes we made to our website (including design and functional elements) not only resulted in an increase in visitors, but an increase in the quality of visitors and higher conversion of those visitors.

He took the time to get to know us, our industry, and our target audience. The more of his recommendations we implement the better our website performs.

Since starting work with Michael we have seen, and continue to see, a very significant increase in visits, leads, and quality of leads from SEO.

Lucy Railton

Director of Marketing, Emergency Response Management Services (ERMS)

Had pleasure of working with Michael on SEO optimizations for Criteo.com. Was a great experience.

Michael was outstanding at providing information, reports and recommendations as well as instructions that enabled our development team to easily plan and execute against.

Would definitely look forward to working with Michael again in the future.

Kele Nakamura

Founder & CTO, Engine Digital

I take great pleasure in being able to provide insights into working with Michael. As the Director of Marketing for a large medical practice we needed to embark on a major SEO project on our website. We could not have made a better choice than to contract with Michael.

He has proven to be incredibly knowledgeable, articulate and patient. A consummate professional and extremely easy to work with. SEO is a very complicated subject matter and it takes someone who is a true expert in their field to not only understand it but to teach it. I now refer to the knowledge Michael imparted as my “getting a PhD in SEO”.

His analysis has become the springboard for our marketing campaign going into 2013 and beyond. I highly recommend Michael. It was one of the best investments we have ever made.

Cindy Lucus

Director of Marketing, Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science (IRMS) at Saint Barnabas

Michael Gordon is a pleasure to work with, he is thorough and responsive throughout the entire process from quote to project completion. He always delivers the message according to the audience he’s engaging with, whether that be a Director of IT or a line of business manager.

Very approachable — Michael takes the time to respond to your questions, no matter how simple. He has a clear and advanced understanding of SEO practices and concepts which he delivers through a high-level of personalized services.

I hope to work with Michael again in the future, and would recommend him to anyone needing an SEO consultant.

Michelle West

Associate Director, Marketing, Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA)

I hired Michael to review my website and provide expert recommendations in SEO and online marketing. I have been thoroughly impressed with the breadth and depth of Michael’s work.

He not only provided great strategic advice and tactical approaches, he also did it in an informative manner with the aim of having us be as self sufficient as possible.

I couldn’t be happier with Michael’s services and highly recommend him to anyone looking to optimize their SEO and online marketing.

Martyn Bassett

President and Founder, Martyn Bassett Associates

Michael has worked on developing a strategy and helped to implement SEO plans for two of my most important clients. That alone should prove how highly I regard Michael’s work.

Both clients are incredibly smart marketers but have totally opposite personalities. Michael was instrumental in tailoring plans that not only worked to achieve the results my clients needed but he was flexible enough to work closely with each of them so that they were comfortable with the implementation of his plans.

Michael is a real expert in SEO and handles himself very professionally. On top of all that, he’s a great guy.

If you are considering SEO for your web site, you would be making a smart decision to give Michael a call.

PJ Lucus

Partner, Inspire Advertising + Design

If you are looking for someone to help you navigate the ins and outs of SEO, then Michael is your guy.

Michael can take complex issues and break them down for the non technical and is comfortable with the most technical on your team. He definitely overdelivers!

We have been extremely pleased with the quality of Michael Gordon’s consultation work for our firm. Michael is adept in the full range of internet marketing concepts such as content, SEO, PPC, and sales of services, and brings a wealth of detailed knowledge about how to best engage with any specific area.

Recommendations are always clear and detailed, and provide clients with a variety of options that may fit their needs. Michael routinely goes the extra mile, delivering much more than we’d expect.

Above all, Michael has demonstrated himself to be highly responsive, professional, and genuinely interested in helping us to achieve our goals. We endorse his knowledge, capabilities, and commitment to client satisfaction with complete confidence.

Jason Schwandt

Vice President, Techcentive Services Inc. (TSI)

Michael’s step-by-step approach with my client was very thorough and enabled him to work at their pace yet he also showed the art of the possible and what’s achievable with SEO. His implementation strategies are part of his proven framework and he was able to apply useful practices to improve SEO results for my client.

He’s ethical and operates with the highest levels of integrity. Michael knows how to decode the world of SEO for novices and is able to provide useful insight even to experts.

Rob Sohn

Principal, Propel Strategy

We’ve barely scratched the surface with implementing Michael Gordon’s SEO recommendations, yet our traffic from Google is already up 23%. I’ve hired other SEO consultants in the past, but with Michael I feel as though I’m in truly good hands for the very first time.

The thoroughness of his research & analysis was unlike anything I’ve ever seen or could have even imagined. Yet he has a knack for explaining things both in writing and verbally that make complex technical concepts easy to understand.

Most importantly to me, the level of personal service we’ve received from Michael has been beyond compare. It’s obvious that he genuinely cares about doing a great job for his clients. He is a total professional in every way and we feel very fortunate to be working with him.

Philip Murad

President & CEO, Philip & Henry Productions

MY BLOG

If you’re not familiar with the concept of duplicate content, it may at first sound like something that doesn’t apply to you, your first thought being either “I don’t have any duplicate content on my site” or “Why would duplicate content affect my site’s SEO anyway?”...

If you have any knowledge at all about SEO, you’re probably somewhat familiar with - or have at least heard of - keyword research. For the uninitiated, keyword research is all about determining which specific keywords and topics to incorporate into your web content in...

For those of you who know me, I know what you're thinking: it's about time! Yes, I'm happy to say that my long overdue website has finally launched. SEO sure has kept me busy the past few years, and getting my own site off the ground has taken a back seat to my...